S.B. Historical Museum

Before Santa Barbara’s underground sewer line was finished in December 1886, ditches along the side of the road—shown here on the 700 block of State Street—acted as a makeshift drainage system.

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By the 1870s there was growing concern over Santa Barbara’s lack of a proper waste disposal system. The population was increasing and the old habits of simply dumping waste water into the unpaved gutters to soak into the ground or using the water to irrigate gardens were becoming untenable. A systematic solution was needed for achieving “proper sewerage.”

Worries revolved around the linked issues of public health and economics. Tourism was becoming an important industry in the 1870s, and Santa Barbara was developing a national reputation as a health resort. One newspaper complained about an especially noxious drain near Ortega and State streets in 1875, “If the councilmen wish the city to forfeit its reputation as a sanitarium for invalids, they will pursue their present course and allow the drain to remain in such a condition that the miasma arising from it is a cause of disgust to those who use the street whereon it is situated and spreads sickness among the surrounding houses …” Some felt this particular offending drain might pose a threat to the health of the students at nearby Lincoln School on Cota Street.

Construction of a sewer system remained a discussion topic for the next few years. The city council looked to a system recently put in place in Oakland and the mayor pushed for a $20,000 bond measure to fund a project. This provoked such an outcry the proposal was dropped and officials contented themselves with enforcement of sanitation regulations and a periodic program of scraping the gutters clean of “black filth.”

The problem, of course, only got worse as the city’s population continued to grow. In 1881, Mayor Peter Barber pointed out how “waste liquids from stables, hotels, restaurants, boarding, and private houses [could] be at once carried to the ocean … the whole central portion of the city will be drained” by a good pipeline system. The Weekly Press warned how poor sanitation could result “in lassitude, deranged stomachs, and torpid livers” and how fever outbreaks, such as typhoid, could “create a harvest for undertakers.”

Yet definitive action was not taken until 1886 when W.W. Hollister led a petition drive to install a modest sewer system. As a major stockholder in the Arlington Hotel, he was quite sensitive to the state of the tourist industry. In September, the council awarded a contract to J.D. Dunn to lay a sewer along State Street from Sola Street to the ocean. The cost was just short of $15,000. The system of 12-inch underground pipe utilized gravity to drain away waste from upper State Street to the sea.

Work began in late October with the aim of completing construction before the rainy season. The most challenging portion of the job was placement of the undersea pipe. This section weighed some 40 tons and was more than 1,000 feet long. The pipe was lowered into the water from Stearns Wharf and attached to the pilings. Thus the Pacific served as the dumping ground for the city’s liquid refuse.

City officials announced the completion of Santa Barbara’s first sewer system in December 1886. One editorial cited “a new era in Santa Barbara’s prosperity. The one object that could honestly be urged against the city as a health resort will be removed.”

Almost immediately it became apparent that this single line was going to be inadequate. In 1888, the council passed a resolution to extend the line to Mission Street and there were constant requests for the construction of feeder lines. Flushing tanks proved to be necessary to maintain flow; one citizen suggested the tanks be above ground in the shape of fountains.

By 1891, the ocean end of the system needed upgrading. Editorials urged passage of another bond measure otherwise the town would end up spending money “for drugs, medical attendance, and funeral expenses.” The $19,000 measure passed by a nearly four-to-one margin. Reportedly the new outfall would be able to handle the needs of a city of over 60,000. Little did the citizens realize it was just a beginning.

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